UNIT9 reimagines Space Invaders
The innovation studio celebrates the 45th birthday of Space Invaders with an AR gaming experience in which players can turn their local neighbourhood into a digital playground.
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In partnership with Google, gaming company TAITO has worked with studio UNIT9 to reimagine the iconic arcade game SPACE INVADERS for today’s digitally-connected world.
Forty-five years after its initial launch, the 8-bit game has now evolved into an immersive augmented reality experience where players put their skills to the test to defend their real-world neighbourhoods from 3D Invaders appearing from buildings and landmarks near them.
Acting as a sequel to the original arcade game, SPACE INVADERS: World Defense uses Google's innovative ARCore Geospatial API. The API allows digital content to be anchored in the real world with sub-meter accuracy, using an individual’s physical surroundings.
Credits
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- Production Company UNIT9/London
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Credits
powered by
- Production Company UNIT9/London
Credits
powered by
- Production Company UNIT9/London
It works in conjunction with a mesh of geometric data tied to Google Maps Street View, resulting in an interactive AR gaming experience anchored to the physical world on a global scale. In addition, the game leverages the newly released Streetscape Geometry API, which provides the geometry of terrain, buildings, or other structures within a 100m radius of the user’s current location. This allows SPACE INVADERS to emerge from buildings and nearby structures.
By switching from World Dimension to Invaders Dimension, players can activate a pure digital 3D level, transitioning from the real world via a portal. This parallel digital environment is dynamically generated based on their surroundings, allowing players to complete missions in a fully virtual 3D Invader world as well as their real world AR view.
UNIT9’s Head of Digital, Media Ridha, says: “The launch of Google’s Geospatial API truly marks the beginning of an exciting new era for real-world location-specific digital activations - not just for gaming, but for any brand experience tied to a geographic location. It was an honor to work with Google and TAITO to translate one of the most famous IPs out there into the next wave of AR gaming and create an experience that fans of all ages around the world can enjoy.”
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